Arafat, who has been confined to his West Bank office by Israeli tanks and is under international pressure to end militant attacks on Israel, made his remarks in a statement published by the New York Times.

"Palestinians are ready to end the conflict," Arafat said.

"We are ready to sit down now with any Israeli leader, regardless of his history, to negotiate freedom for the Palestinians, a complete end of the occupation, security for Israel and creative solutions to the plight of the (Palestinian) refugees while respecting Israel's demographic concerns."

"I condemn the attacks carried out by terrorist groups against Israeli civilians," Arafat said. "These groups do not represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for freedom. They are terrorist organizations, and I am determined to put an end to their activities."

Hopes of a quick breakthrough to end 16 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has killed more than 1,000 people remain slim, despite a series of meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials in the past few days.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian parliamentary speaker Ahmed Korei held talks in New York and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met Palestinian officials.

Sharon, who was due on Sunday to brief his cabinet about the contacts, declared Arafat "irrelevant" after a series of Palestinian suicide attacks in Israel.

Arafat is under Israeli and American pressure to end Palestinian attacks on Israel by Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the armed wing of his own Fatah faction.

He also faces demands from various Palestinian groups to resist the international demands to clamp down on militants.

The PFLP, the second biggest group in the Palestine Liberation Organization, temporarily suspended on Saturday its membership in the decision-making body to protest against Arafat's arrest of its leader Ahmed Saadat.

The Damascus-based PFLP's politburo said in a statement it would not resume activities in the PLO's executive committee headed by Arafat until the Palestinian Authority freed its leader, Ahmed Saadat, who was arrested about a month ago. Arafat also heads the Authority.

"This is a conditional step...until Saadat is released," said Abdel-Rahim Mallouh, Saadat's deputy.

Hopes of a quick breakthrough to end 16 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has killed more than 1,000 people remain slim, despite a series of meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials in the past few days.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met Palestinian officials in New York overnight for nearly two hours to discuss ways to end the bloodshed, an aide to Peres said. The two sides said top security officials also met in Jerusalem on Friday.

(China Daily February 4, 2002)